Books by K.B. Owen

The Concordia Wells Mysteries

Set in a fictitious 1890s women’s college in Hartford, Connecticut, the series features Miss Concordia Wells, a young lady professor who cannot seem to resist a little unseemly sleuthing when those she cares about are at risk. Who knew higher education could be such a dangerous endeavor?

Library Journal honors the best self-published ebooks in the genres of Romance, Mystery, Science Fiction, and Fantasy. The Concordia Wells Mysteries have been accepted into LJ’s “select” SELF-e collection!

Dangerous and Unseemly

Book 1 of the Concordia Wells Mysteries

Awarded Best in the Mystery category!

An unseemly lesson…in murder

The year is 1896, and Professor Concordia Wells has her hands full: teaching classes, acting as live-in chaperone to a cottage of lively female students, and directing the student play, Macbeth.

But mystery and murder are not confined to the stage. Malicious pranks, arson, money troubles, and the apparent suicide of a college official create turmoil at the women’s college. For Concordia, tragedy becomes personal when a family member dies of a mysterious illness, and her best friend is attacked and left for dead.

With her friend still in danger and her beloved school facing certain ruin, Concordia knows that she must act. But uncovering secrets is a dangerous business, and there are some who do not appreciate the unseemly inquiries and bold actions of the young lady professor. Can she discover the ones responsible…before she becomes the next target?

Dangerous and Unseemly, now in audio book form

Unseemly Pursuits

Book 2 of the Concordia Wells Mysteries

cover by Melinda VanLone

A deadly secret that won’t stay buried…

It is the fall of 1896, and Miss Concordia Wells is hip-deep in the usual tumult of a lady professor’s life: classes, clubs, student pranks, and the unending drama generated by the girls she lives with on campus. Complicating this normality is the new Lady Principal, whom the students have nicknamed “the Ogre.” The woman seems bent on making Concordia’s life miserable.

And then there’s the exotic spirit medium, Madame Durand, who has befriended Concordia’s mother and has started a “Spirit Club” on campus. Madame’s prognostications of doom are at first only mildly irritating – until events take a sobering turn. An ancient Egyptian amulet donated to the college mysteriously disappears, the donor is found murdered, and his daughter – Concordia’s best friend – confesses to killing him.

Desperate for answers, Concordia unravels a 20-year-old secret, closely guarded by men now dead. But such secrets can be dangerous for the daughters left behind, including Concordia herself. Can she make sense of the mystery that has bound together their fates, before it’s too late?

Unseemly Ambition

Book 3 of the Concordia Wells Mysteries

A murder…a missing boy…a secret society’s bold and deadly plot…

It is 1898, and Professor Concordia Wells has come to expect the hectic routine of classes, clubs, teas, and the inevitable student pranks at the women’s college. If only she could avoid the cantankerous dean, Randolph Maynard, who has learned about her past experiences as a “lady sleuth.” To Concordia’s dismay, he scrutinizes her every move for evidence of unseemly conduct.

The dean will certainly scowl over the lady professor’s behavior when a disastrous turn of events affects those she loves. First, a mysterious woman claims that Concordia’s young friend, the eleven-year-old Eli, is her long-lost child. Soon after, they find the woman murdered and the boy gone.

Lieutenant Capshaw is given the case, only to be abruptly replaced by a junior associate. An innocuous reassignment, or something more?

Concordia calls upon a former ally, Penelope Hamilton, for help. As they search for the child and untangle the mystery of his mother’s death, Concordia realizes that not even her own colleagues are above suspicion. Not knowing whom at the school to trust as she attempts to side-step Dean Maynard’s continual scrutiny, she must tread carefully. Far more is at risk than the loved ones she seeks to protect, and there is no turning back.

Start reading at the click of a button:

Unseemly Haste

Book 4 of the Concordia Wells Mysteries

cover by Melinda VanLone

Murder aboard the Overland Limited…

It is the summer of 1898. Professor Concordia Wells is eager to accompany her friend, Pinkerton detective Penelope Hamilton, on a cross-country train trip to San Francisco. Breathless vistas and exciting locales will be a welcome change from a fiancé impatient to set a wedding date and the threat of revenge from the remaining Inner Circle members back in Hartford.

But Concordia should know there is no such thing as a free ride. When the Pinkerton Agency switches assignments at the last minute, she and Miss Hamilton have their work cut out for them. Fellow passengers prove to be both help and hindrance: a lady reporter in hiding, a con man…and a corpse or two. Then there is the handsome gentleman with the dark hair, green eyes, and a secret agenda of his own. Good thing Concordia is an engaged lady. Or is it?

Start reading at the click of a button:

Beloved and Unseemly

book 5 of the Concordia Wells Mysteries

cover by Melinda VanLone

A stolen blueprint, a dead body, and wedding bells….

Change is in the air at Hartford Women’s College in the fall of 1898. Renowned inventor Peter Sanbourne—working on Project Blue Arrow for the Navy—heads the school’s new engineering program, and literature professor Concordia Wells prepares to leave to marry David Bradley.

The new routine soon goes awry when a bludgeoned body—clutching a torn scrap of the only blueprint for Blue Arrow—is discovered on the property Concordia and David were planning to call home.

To unravel the mystery that stands between them and their new life together, Concordia must navigate deadly pranks, dark secrets, and long-simmering grudges that threaten to tear apart her beloved school and leave behind an unseemly trail of bodies.

Click on the link to your favorite bookseller below to start reading:

Unseemly Honeymoon

book 6 of the Concordia Wells Mysteries

When a killer crashes the honeymoon, three’s a crowd…

It’s the summer of 1899, and Professor Concordia Wells—now Mrs. David Bradley—eagerly anticipates their honeymoon in the Hamptons. She has one errand along the way, to visit a former student seeking advice. About a love interest, no doubt.

If only it were that benign. The young lady, now employed as a switchboard operator, inadvertently eavesdropped on a murder plot involving the high finance world of the Stock Exchange Luncheon Club. How to notify the police without losing her position? Before Concordia can think of something, the girl is murdered.

Without proof, the police give little credence to second-hand conspiracy tales. David convinces Concordia to leave the matter to the authorities and go on with their honeymoon. Little do they know that trouble will follow them to their peaceful getaway, and entangle them in secrets and long-standing grudges until they are fighting for their very lives. “’Til death do us part” may happen sooner than the couple ever imagined.

I’ll post more purchase links as they go live (any day now!), including the paperback. Just in time for your holiday relaxation, curled up in a cozy chair on a wintry afternoon! *wink*

Praise for the Concordia Wells Mysteries:

“A fun historical whodunit with a delightful background of the early days of women’s collegiate education.” ~Library Journal

“…finely wrought historical details that make the reader feel totally at home…truly a delight to read. I’ll definitely be awaiting more adventures of the intrepid Miss Wells.” ~Martha Powers, award-winning author of Conspiracy of Silence and Death Angel

“The exquisitely plotted mystery will keep you turning the pages well into the night, and the richness of the world will keep you thinking about the story long after you put it down.” ~Janice Hamrick, award-winning author of Death Makes the Cut

“A delightful story, beautifully written. I have become a K.B. Owen fan. She writes a more “brainy” book than the so-called “cosy” mysteries. Her characters are well-rounded, the younger ones mischievous and all maintain the Victorian speech throughout. Despite a few anxious moments to do with with dead bodies, it is a joy to read.”~Mimi

“Owen’s characters have a sense of humor, and her writing displays the spark of fun that adds so much to a mystery. Concordia Wells, the sleuth, is a professor at a women’s college, creating a built-in set of delightful character opportunities that Owen’s writing capitalizes on to the fullest. …Owen’s mystery is well developed and nicely complex, with the action and humorous elements I expect to find in the best mystery stories.” ~Susan Spann, author of The Hiro Hattori Shinobi Mysteries

Chronicles of a Lady Detective

Chronicles of a Lady Detective is a planned collection of short stories and novelettes featuring Penelope Hamilton, a recurring character in the Concordia Wells mysteries. Readers have often told me they enjoy Miss Hamilton’s character and would like to see more of her, so I’m exploring the lady’s early detective cases. The first novelette, Never Sleep, was released in April 2015. Another story in the series, The Mystery at Schroon Lake Inn, will be released in early 2017. The stories will be available in ebook form only, until there are enough of them to publish in a print collection.

Never Sleep: A Chronicle of a Lady Detective

Never Sleep is set in 1885, more than a decade before Concordia meets Penelope Hamilton in Dangerous and Unseemly. Here Penelope recounts her first case as a Pinkerton in her own right, and the tale is full of the mysterious occurrences and unladylike action scenes one would expect from a daring protagonist such as Miss Hamilton.

An old flame…an assassin’s bullet…the event of the season…

November 1885. Although Penelope Hamilton Wynch doesn’t especially miss her estranged husband, she does yearn for the excitement of the old days, when they worked together on assignments from the Pinkerton Agency. So it is no surprise that, despite their irreconcilable differences, she finds herself agreeing to help him on a case once again. He needs her to infiltrate the household of H.A. Comstock, a wealthy industrial magnate who has been the victim of factory sabotage and an assassination attempt, just as the family is about to sponsor a cotillion for their debutante daughter. As Pen works the case while dodging her husband’s attempts at reconciliation, she encounters another old flame who is looking more and more like the prime suspect. Pen must resist her renewed feelings for the man, as she races against time to stop the saboteur and would-be assassin before he tries again.

Praise for Never Sleep:

“I’m a big fan of historical mysteries that feature lady detectives, and Penelope Hamilton was one of my favorite secondary characters from K.B. Owen’s Concordia Wells series. Penelope has a strong opinion on the world around her, and this book gave enough hints of an interesting past and a future full of problems that I’ll be waiting for the next novellas in the series.” ~Marcy Kennedy, editor and suspense fiction author

“I really enjoyed this book. It packed a lot into a short novelette. I loved the main character – and will have to read the other books in the series. Here I go again – getting hooked on a series of books/novelettes. What fun!!!! A Pinkterton lady detective. Love it.” ~nhrbookcrazy

Coming March 1, 2017!

Missing jewels…a haunted inn…a long-held secret…

Penelope Hamilton Wynch, one of the few female operatives employed at the Pinkerton Agency in 1886, is sent to the Adirondacks to investigate the mysterious happenings at Schroon Lake Inn, newly renovated to cater to New York City’s upper crust on summer holiday. Rumors of ghosts are bad enough, but when expensive jewelry disappears, the owner’s livelihood is at stake. A woman’s touch is needed.
Pen’s boss, William Pinkerton, thinks he has given her the perfect cover. She is to play the part of an eccentric spirit medium, eager to experience the purported ghostly manifestations.
Unfortunately, her cover will not remain intact for long, and there are those watching who do not appreciate her disturbing the inn’s secrets.